Art in the subarctic, Klondike Institute of Art & Culture, Dawson City, YT, Canada. December 1-31, 2015.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Ravenous Little Charlotte
I hiked the mountain behind Macaulay House again today, at the beginning of morning twilight, seeking the graveyards that are all clustered together at the very top. Instead of winding along through wooded trails this time, I took the road. Along this road I discovered a murder - and by that I mean evidence of a kill and snow-imprinted traces of ravens' feet everywhere.
From cradle to grave.
I experience silence here in Dawson like I haven't known in a very long time - the smother of valley and snowfall and an utter absence of wind. It is deep stillness... except for the ravens, of diverse vocabulary and mischievous intentions. I collected a bundle of partridge feathers along the road and up the hill, feathers that the ravens had left behind after devouring their breakfast. These ravens are the size of small dogs in Dawson, so it's no wonder they need a hearty morning meal.
All of the graves have their own white picket fences.
Speaking of meals, I discovered a name for the Macaulay House ghost, at the same time as I discovered a handwritten recipe for "Macaulay House Bread". Her name is Little Charlotte. I keep finding things in this house, and below are scraps of paper I found today in the kitchen:
Click image to enlarge.
Who is the "him" referred to? Her father?
Tonight as I walked down the road to go to an event, nobody was on the street except for me. I was late for the event and hurried along in the frosty air. Then suddenly, coming towards me down the middle of the street were two foxes, chasing each other and playing. They had dark brown/black bodies with white ends on their foxy tails. I wanted to follow them, but I had arrived at the ballroom and went inside to hear the music.
I leave you with this song that randomly appeared on my playlist tonight whilst writing this post - it's the first time I've ever heard it (beautiful and creepily apropos)... Tomorrow (Sunday), I will make some Macaulay House Bread for the hungry ghost, Little Charlotte. I also discovered that she seems more at ease when I leave the radio on in the kitchen.
The project will respond to the local landscape, cultural history and mythology. Utilizing locally sourced biomaterials such as animal intestine, I will construct artificial bones that mimic the natural biological process of osteogenesis. These faux artifacts will be built using textile structures as scaffolds for mineral growth. Following this process of ‘mock-ossification’, I will build text-based osteobiographies (narratives) for each object, referencing and mutating the existing stories, mythologies and histories of the Yukon.
This project reflects an interest in psychogeography (affective space) and how existing spaces can be altered through the intervention of uncanny objects abandoned in public. Those objects will be marked with identifying information that leads to a website containing semi-fictitious but almost entirely-believable ‘mutated narratives’ (a term coined by bioartist, Katherine Fargher) that offer alternate explanations for the way things are.
My research in tissue engineering informs the work in its biomimetic process: bones are over 70% hydroxylapatite crystal, formed on a partly-collagen matrix. By sculpting soft tissue and using various crystalline chemical solutions to grow hard mineral matter on the surface and insides of the structures, beautiful and unknown forms emerge. The chemicals I use and the biomaterials are naturally biodegradable and will be allowed to disintegrate into the environment, leaving nothing but their osteobiographical trace.
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